(l to r) Jed Davis and Chuck Rainey of Sevendys at SugarHill in Houston, Texas, on December 8, 2010. (Courtesy Jed Davis)

(l to r) Jed Davis and Chuck Rainey of Sevendys at SugarHill in Houston, Texas, on December 8, 2010. (Courtesy Jed Davis)

Photo: Eric Jarvis

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Musical chameleon Jed Davis brings Sevendys to The Linda

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You know it's a new century when your interview subject tells you that he started his latest band while texting during Mavis Staples' set at last year's Solid Sound Festival -- the Wilco-hosted shindig that will be landing at Mass MoCA in North Adams, Mass., again this summer.

"Avi was somewhere in the crowd, and I was somewhere else," Jed Davis says, "and we were texting back and forth during 'The Weight' about trying to book a session at Muscle Shoals."

Only Davis can reference something like this quite so casually, creating a combo out of thin air with one of indie rock's leading lights (Avi Buffalo's Avi Zahner-Isenberg), and planning to record at one of rock 'n' roll's most legendary studios before the first chord had even been struck.

But Davis is like that. And Sevendys, the combo in question, will prove it Tuesday at The Linda: WAMC's Performing Arts Studio.

A terrifically charming fellow with a musically fearless bent, Davis has been making odd magic happen ever since he left Long Island for the University at Albany in the early '90s.

During his first round in town, he established his penchant for melody and adventurous solos, and with Hanslick Rebellion, a band that continues in one form or another, with great gaps between gatherings, to this day.

Eventually, seeking employment and feeling "burned out by what I perceived to be a cutthroat Albany music scene," he headed south again, to the city rather than the island.

Over the following 15 years, friends and fans heard continual rumors and tremors about what Davis was up to:

"He's working with the Ramones." "He's leading Jessica Simpson's band." "He invented Electroclash."

All of it was true, and more.

In May 2010, Davis found an opportunity to return to Albany, and he took it, splashing down with a series of funky gigs and presentations at, naturally enough, UAlbany.

His laptop, and therefore his contacts, came with him.

One of those contacts was Avi Zahner-Isenberg, whose semi-eponymous West Coast band had hooked up with Davis originally to borrow his van for its East Coast tours.

One thing led to another, which led to Davis and Avi Zahner-Isenberg furiously typing tiny little letters at Solid Sound.

Now, they've got a band, or something like it, on their hands.

"I think Sevendys started as a project," Davis says, "or a combination of projects that happened to benefit one another, but here we are on our third recording date, and to me that's going steady. If Hanslick Rebellion is a band -- and if you ask the band members, it is -- then Sevendys must be a band. We've gotten together three more times than the Rebellion in the past year!"

The first two sessions took place at SugarHill in Houston and EastWest in Los Angeles.

The former is the oldest continuously operated studio in the country, with a studio log that includes Lightnin' Hopkins' incendiary 1954 Gold Star sessions. The latter (as United Western Recorders) hosted The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" masterpiece, among others.

Davis, ever the chameleon, crafted songs specifically aimed at the output of each.

Currently the Sevendys squadron is holing up at Dreamland in West Hurley, where more modern stars like Joe Jackson, 10,000 Maniacs and The B-52s have tracked.

"This time, the idea isn't to pay homage to music of the past," Davis says, "so much as to create our own sound. That's more in the spirit of this studio and this region. What'll come out of Dreamland is anybody's guess!"

Rainey -- the pulse behind Steely Dan's "Aja" and many other classic albums -- will not be on hand at the Linda, as he's flying out to Japan directly after the sessions, but Sevendys (with Peter Gabriel/Indigo Girls/Hall & Oates stickman Marotta on percussion, and Willow Tonight on bass) will still be kicking it out in style.

"We're gonna get up there and have a good time, create a warm and welcoming atmosphere and rock like crazy."